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She shoots, she scores

In a vast and often frozen land, they are rituals that bind. Dark drives to a chilly hockey arena. Blades biting outdoor ice. Kids in heroes' sweaters, mouthing their own play-by-plays. CBC drives to the net with an unabashedly affectionate look back at the grassroots of our national game — the true spirit of hockey.

Hockey was, at the beginning, gender blind. Then along came professionalism and all its rules, the first of which was "No girls allowed." But, after decades of being relegated to the role of cheerleader, women are charging onto the ice in record numbers. Now, as the national women's team heads to Nagano for its first-ever Olympics, the question is: Can a professional women's team be far behind? Team Canada coach Shannon Miller doesn't think so.

"You know, we're real good," Miller says of her World Cup champions. Women's hockey and basketball, she later adds, may be the hottest sports in the world right now. Hockey Night in Canada commentator Don Cherry is a fan, saying: "They give it 100 per cent." The future seems bright but it's all too late for two stars of the 1930s Preston Rivulettes. They were just as good as these Olympians, the former stars say, and every bit as tough. 
• The Canadian women's Olympic team, which in this clip were about to go to the Nagano Olympics as the heavy favourite, had to settle for a silver medal. The Canadians lost 3-1 to the American squad in the final. After the medal ceremony, Canadian coach Shannon Miller told Canadian Press: "I had a feeling of joy because an Olympic medal was being hung on a female hockey player. I couldn't believe how happy it made me."

• The women's Team Canada got its revenge on the Americans in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The Canadians beat the Americans 3-2, ending the Games with a perfect 5-0 record. "These girls are role models, not just for this sport," said Canadian coach Danièle Sauvageau. "They're role models for girls and human beings."

• The Preston Rivulettes, mentioned in this clip, were an astonishingly successful women's team formed in southwestern Ontario in 1930. Playing other female teams from Ontario, the Rivulettes logged an estimated 350 games, winning all except for three ties and two losses.

• The earliest known photograph of women playing hockey was taken at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in 1890. The stickhandlers on Governor General Lord Stanley's rink include his daughter, Lady Isobel Stanley. The photo is displayed on the Library and Archives Canada website in the Women's Hockey section of a feature called Backcheck: A Hockey Retrospective.

• Many Canadian women are responsible for breaking down the gender barrier in hockey that loomed large after the Second World War. They include Abby Hoffman, a nine-year-old star defenceman for a Toronto team who disguised herself as a boy to play. For more on Abby, see the Hockey surprise: he's a girl! clip in the topic Fair Game: Pioneering Women in Canadian Sports.

• Manon Rheaume, who played on the national team featured in this clip, made history in 1992 as the first woman to play professional hockey. The goalie played for the Tampa Bay Lightning during an exhibition game against the St. Louis Blues. For more, see the clip Manon Rhéaume: First woman to play pro hockey from the topic Fair Game: Pioneering Women in Canadian Sports.
Medium: Television
Program: The National Magazine
Broadcast Date: Jan. 16, 1998
Guest(s): Don Cherry, Elizabeth Etue, Shannon Miller, Gladys Pitcher, Hilda Ranscombe
Host: Hana Gartner
Reporter: Carol Off
Duration: 5:03

Last updated: March 11, 2013

Page consulted on March 11, 2013

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